Bad Blood
by Tanza D
Summary: "Slytherin!" Those were the words that pretty much marked the rest of my life. I remember searching frantically for my sister among the big crowd of students. I knew where the Gryffindor table was located, but I couldn't make out her face.
1. Slytherin!

**My first story… please me nice to me -**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, I only own Corinne as a character. The rest is all J.K. Rowling and her awesome imagination **

Rumours circulate quickly in school. That's the thing that people should tell you about school. Things like classes, books, and homework are implicit already. But the nastiness that people can pull off is something they never tell you.

My older sister is what people call a "muggle-born". Frankly, I feel the discrimination emanating from that word alone. But, hey, apparently "muggle-born" is not a bad word. You can _call _other people muggle-borns, but that's ridiculous. Why would you call someone muggle-born? They're still people, and they have names too. But no, the bad word to refer to us "muggle-borns" is "Mudblood", which is saying that we have dirty blood. I get how being called a mudblood is bad, but I do not consider that being referred to as a muggle-born is any better. There are other-better-aspects of being part of the magical world, though. I've never personally been there myself, but I have acquired enough knowledge from my sister to know what I'm talking about and also I've been magical ever since I was born.

I didn't receive the letter before my sister, because she's older and she was going to this special magical school before I was. But, regardless of that, I've had the ability to alter my physical form ever since I was a baby. I can't really control it, and it has a lot to do with how I am feeling, but it's something that I have that my sister doesn't. It's kind of neat because she was always the goody two shoes and our parents practically drool for her. Parents have favourites, it happens. But can she change her physical form? No. She can't. I can, and that makes me special, more special in that area, at least. Don't get me wrong, though. I know my parents love me too; they just love her a little more. Just a little.

Anyway, as I was saying, my sister returned from her first year at Hogwarts about a week ago. She was here during Christmas break, but she was sickly obsessed with a guy named Nicholas Flammel, so there goes any sister-sister time we were supposed to have. Now it's summer, and I also got a letter. My parents weren't surprised what with my hair going from blonde to purple and then back to blonde for no apparent reason (I supposed they even felt relieved because at least they knew now why I changed physically), but they were just as excited as my sister. She immediately started babbling about how much fun it would be to have me with her in the Gryffindor house. I know she wanted me to be in Gryffindor, and I was honestly rooting for that house as well. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with any of the others, but Hufflepuff was not for me and Ravenclaw was also most definitely not the right one. I didn't feel as though I had any of the qualities that those houses appreciated. Maybe I had one or two, but I didn't feel as if I would fit there.

Slytherin sounded badass, I must say. I've read a few things on the house from this big-ass book called "Hogwarts: A History", and they sounded cool enough. My sister, however, seems to utterly despise Slytherin. She talks about this boy with a pretty funny name, something to do with Dragon I think? I can't really remember the name, but apparently he despises my sister because of this whole "muggle-born" situation. My sister says that Slytherin's full of prejudice against us because of our blood status. She said Slytherin is the house of the kids of many powerful and influential witches and wizards; many are even dark wizards. These wizards and witches are known as "pure-bloods", term given to people that are 100% magical.

So Slytherin is full of these "pure-blood" skanks. I wouldn't want to go to Hogwarts and be placed in a house where I would be constantly teased about my blood. So that pretty much left Gryffindor as my only choice…and maybe Hufflepuff.

"You are going to love it there, Cor!" my sister said as she plunged herself into my bed. "Everything is so different from here it's crazy. Look what I learned to do."

Just as quickly as she had thrown herself into my bed, she was once again on her feet. She began looking for something among my stuff. For what? I didn't know. She finally settled on an old teddy bear that my father got me for my 4rd birthday. Its left ear was torn, and it was missing an eye. My mother wanted to get rid of it, said it was old and worn and that it only made dust. I hid it and that's how it is still here. I quite like that teddy bear.

"You learned to look for old teddy bears?" I said knowing it was going to bother my sister. It did. She rolled her eyes and completely ignored me, focusing on the worn teddy bear instead.

Taking a long, wood-like-stick (the thing she called "a wand"), she pronounced some weird word and the teddy bear started to float around the room. The floating object mimicked every movement she did with the wand. I admit it was pretty cool, and I really couldn't contain my excitement. Soon, I was going to be able to do that too.

A smile stretched along my sister's face the moment she saw the fascination written on my eyes. I guess some things just never change. It brought me back to when my sister read me bedtime stories. I would be fascinated at how she narrated them, the detail of the stories imprinted on her voice, and the warmth of her voice while holding a book. My sister's loved books since I can remember. She's always been passionate about reading. It's a rather wonderful trait that she has. Most kids in our school called her a "book-worm", but I don't think there's anything wrong with being passionate about something that you like. If anything, it's what makes you who you are; it's what distinguishes you from the rest. I'm fascinated with a lot of things that my sister does. In a way, I consider her to be my heroine. She's intelligent, she's courageous, she's friendly and she's the kindest person you'll ever meet. I wouldn't be able to describe how amazing my sister really is. She's more than what the eye meets, and I love her dearly. There she was mastering a spell (I think that's how they are called?) at only soon-to-be-12. Indeed, some things never do change. I pretty much believe I'd admire my sister until the day that I die.

"So, only 2 weeks to go and you'll be at Hogwarts. Are you excited?" my sister said sitting back down on my bed.

"Well, with your descriptions, how can I not be?"

"Ron's sister is also joining your year. Her name's Ginny." She gave me an encouraging smile, and I merely shrugged. Making friends was not something I was good at.

"It'll be different." She said reaching for my hand. I don't think anyone really knew how difficult it was for me to relate to people. People, generally, do not like someone whose hair and eyes change colour randomly. Hair and eyes changing colour was strange, sure, but once I grew wings out of nowhere. From that point on, I was home-schooled. My mother and father juggled between work and my education. A private teacher was often discussed, but, in the end, neither wanted me to be any more exposed than I already was. Sometimes I felt as though they were even scared of me. I don't blame them. Their second daughter was a freak who one day was ok, and the next she was half a bird.

"You do have people that grow wings there?" I said trying to sound nonchalant. I didn't fool her, though. My whole "condition", or whatever it was, affected me more than I could say.

"Well, the Transfiguration teacher can morph into a cat and back at will," she smiled softly. "Maybe muggles don't get it. But I'm sure people at Hogwarts will find it rather amusing."

I didn't answer her. I smiled, as fake as that seemed, and declared I was suddenly starving. She probably didn't buy half of it. But my condition was something that not even I understood. I wasn't expecting my sister to understand; I pretty much knew she didn't. We'd just have to see how it went at Hogwarts.

The two weeks passed by in a blink of an eye, and before I had even the remote chance of knowing what hit me, we were in a place called Diagon Alley buying all my Hogwarts supplies. Inside the letter that I received was a list of all the things that I was going to need for my first year. The thing I was most excited for was getting to buy my own wand. My sister had told about the process of selecting a wand, and more than selecting a wand it was the wand selecting you. I never imagined it would literally mean the wand reacting to me. Mr. Ollivander gave a couple of wands and asked me move them. I did so, and the first 3 only caused objects to randomly pop. The fourth wand, however, glowed the moment it was placed in my hand. It felt as if it belonged to me all along, and Mr. Ollivander said that was the one. I got and 11 ¾ inches, slightly springy wand made of cypress wood and dragon core. I don't really know what all those things say about me or my wand or my magic, if it says anything about my magic, but I was very excited of finally having my wand.

After getting my uniform, and a weird-movie-like witch hat, I got the most amazing present: a female Siberian eagle owl. The moment I saw her I fell in love with her majestic figure. She was the perfect owl. I named her Iris, because I thought her eyes were hypnotising.

Along my tour around Diagon Alley, I met my sister's two best friends. I also met Ginny, the girl my sister had mentioned. I was going her same age and we both were new to Hogwarts. Although, I suspect I was more new to the whole concept of magic than she was. She had 6 older brothers and they had all gone to Hogwarts, all proud Gryffindors. I learned that Ginny and her brothers were purebloods, but they didn't care much for the title. So I guess there were two types of people, the ones who were purebloods but didn't care about it at all so therefore didn't discriminate people for their blood status, and then there were the ones who cared about being a pureblood and discriminated people because of some superiority complex. My sister exemplified it with the Weasley family, purebloods that didn't think blood made a difference, and The Malfoy family, purebloods that did think blood made a difference.

That reminds me, Malfoy was the guy that my sister hated with the fire of a lioness. We bumped into him, but I wasn't all that interested in the their heated exchange of words. My sister talked directly to an older guy with blonde-silver hair. I don't know what she told him but he referred to our parents as muggles, his voice heavy with disgust. That got my attention, but they were already on their way out.

The Hogwarts Express was huge. My sister and her friends said they had no problem if I sat with them, but I decided not to. How was my school life going to be if I just glued myself to my older sister? Pathetic. I didn't need to be the shadow of my sister to survive school. I could do this alone. Besides, as my sister had said, people here morphed into cats; maybe I could have a chance at making friends, condition and all included. I was an independent being and I did not need my sister to be my bodyguard.

I found and empty compartment and decided to settle in.

"Uhm, hello. Do you mind?" said a ginger peeking through the compartment door. I knew right away who she was. Ginny, obviously.

"Sure" I smiled if only to appear friendly.

"You're Hermione's sister, right?"

"My name's Corinne. You're Ron's sister, correct? My sister told me about you about two weeks ago. I reckon we're both first years."

"I'm Ginny." I knew her name already, but I wasn't about to cut her off.

"A pleasure, Ginny. Do you think you'll be a Gryffindor?"

"My family's practically filled with Gryffindor's so I'm hoping. What about you?"

"Gryffindor sounds cool, Hufflepuff possibly too. I'm happy as long as I'm not in Slytherin."

Ginny agreed with me. I probably would have liked Slytherin if I was a pureblood, because I wouldn't get teased about blood status. In retrospective, I think being a muggle-born in Slytherin is pretty much the perfect equivalent of being in hell. I don't want to be in hell just yet, thank you.

I slept much of the way to Hogwarts, only making small chat with Ginny when I was awake. Ginny was pretty cool, although a bit shy. I was never a shy kid, but Ginny appeared to be. I also noticed that she would blush every time I mentioned Harry, or asked something about Harry. I didn't grow up in the magical world, so I didn't get what the big deal with Harry was. At first I thought, maybe Harry is Ginny's hero for defeating this Voldermort guy as only a tender baby. But after a while, I suspect she might have a crush on him? Maybe. Possibly.

Hogwarts did not disappoint. Everything about it screamed MAGIC, and I was soon engrossed in it. It felt like home. I know my home is with my parents, but sometimes I felt off place there. In here, I felt was thought this was where I was supposed to be. It was a weird, warm feeling. But that weird, and warm feeling vanished when I accidentally bumped into another human body.

"Hey, watch it." The guy stopped mid-sentence as he silently inspected me. He probably didn't know who I was. I hope he didn't. Because I know who he was, I saw him at Diagon Alley. He was Malfoy, muggle-born hater supreme.

I didn't even apologise. I rolled my eyes and kept on going. I heard him call after me, possibly demanding an apology for stomping on his shinny, new shoes or whatever. But I didn't stop. I was not going to apologise to the likes of him, I'd be damned first.

My sister rushed behind me and started to ask about the whole incident back there. I shrugged, and didn't say anything about it. We walked to the Great Hall for the Sorting Hat Ceremony and then I was separated from my sister. I didn't know how great the extent of our separation was going to be at that time.

"Corinne Granger!" My name was called and I didn't even blink. I walked towards the hat, my head held high. You could say I was a proud child, because I was a proud child. There is nothing wrong with pride. I sat down, and the hat was placed on my head. It started talking and I was a little startled.

"Ah, Granger are you?" the hat sounded doubtful, almost as though he couldn't believe I was a Granger. Once when I was younger, I questioned that myself. If you look at my sister and then look at me, you wouldn't precisely say we are even related. We look nothing like the other. But, I am a Granger. Unless, of course, my mother slept with some other dude and bang! Here I am. But that's unlikely. I don't know, maybe I look like some ancient great, great, great, great grandmother. "Your blood runs strong. Ah, yes, I see it, in your heart. You will run a righteous path in Gryffindor, but your heart is not that of a lion. Oh no. I see ambition, and desire for power. I see a leader in you, and determination. Not in Gryffindor, no." The silence grew thick in the room. My stare was focused on nothing in particular as I tried to not panic. The Sorting Hat said I was not a Gryffindor, and ambition was not a trait found in Hufflepuff. I also knew I was in no way a Ravenclaw. That only left one house left…

"Slytherin!"

Thread built up inside of me, but I tried my hardest to keep a composed expression. I couldn't let anyone know how much I was dreading to be in that house, I wouldn't give my new fellow racist housemates the chance to see me break. I searched the room, internally screaming at my sister to do something. I didn't find her. I knew where the Gryffindor table was located, but I just couldn't make out her face. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat, and walked with all the dignity that I could muster towards the beginning of my hellish school year.

**Sorry if it's too boring, but I felt as though I needed to set the base of the story. So yeah, any sort of feedback is welcomed. **


	2. Matthew Fitzgerald

My first night in Slytherin was, as I had predicted, hell. Everyone knew I was Hermione Granger's little sister, and you wouldn't believe how much Slytherin hated my sister. There was one in particular that really had it against her: Draco Malfoy. The little bastard laughed at me the moment I sat down, rather unwillingly, at the Slytherin table. Not that I cared much about what he thought, but I soon came to the realisation that he governed Slytherin. This was his reign and I wasn't welcomed.

The idea terrorized me a little. How was I supposed to make friends or allies in a house that, in its entirety so far, hated my sister and thus hated me? I couldn't fight them all alone. It was the entire house against me.

I guess I must say that I am not someone who just remains quiet while everyone is bothering her. No, I am much too proud for that. Call it wise or stupid, but I wouldn't let anyone say things to me just because they felt like it. That was the first mistake I made. I may have (quite possibly) called this Malfoy guy a coward for throwing his frustrations about Potter not being his friend (yeah, I knew the story and I frankly thought it was pathetic) at a younger girl. I earned a few laughs and I knew Malfoy was embarrassed, but mostly I was hated even more for daring to defy the great Draco Malfoy; their prince. As for me, I was beginning to feel the hate my sister felt for him.

Hermione once talked about her first day being a Gryffindor. She said everyone was so nice to her that she almost immediately felt like home. It took her a while to actually make some friends because I don't think she knew how. Hermione always had me to defend her when we were kids and someone called on her obsession with books and knowing things and _bragging_ about knowing them. I was the only one who was allowed to call her names. Only I could call her a know-it-all or a loser, because in the end I didn't say those things to hurt her like the other kids did. I can see why some people might find her annoying, what with her "I'm better than you because I am perfect and I know things that you don't even though I'm probably too young to know them" attitude. Adults are generally impressed, but people her age are not. She's getting better at managing it, though. Because Malfoy brags to make other people feel inferior, but my sister doesn't. She just wanted to know as much as she could about the magic world to not feel like an outsider. I would break the nose of any asshole that dared to hurt her, but thankfully she found really good friends. Harry and Ron would never allow anyone to hurt her, so she's in really good hands.

I wish I could say the same about my Hogwarts story. Something like, yes I was placed in a house full of judgemental monkeys who do not have enough of a free-thinking mind to question the morally-doubtful upbringing of their wacko parents, but hey at least I made a friend who proved that Slytherin wasn't full of brain-washed idiots. But no, Slytherins were still brain washed idiots and no one was proving them wrong. It was disappointing.

"Are you sure there is no way I could change houses?" I asked my sister for the tenth time as she showed me the way to Potions. I had never realised just how big Hogwarts was. In a place like this, and with my poor orientation skills, I could easily get lost and never find my way to class. Thank goodness for older sisters and their excellent orientation skills.

"I checked all night for it, but there isn't any information on that. Apparently no one has ever changed houses since Hogwarts was founded." The concern in my sister's voice shook me. I could see the big, purple-ish circles under her eyes. She had clearly spent more than one night awake looking for a possible solution to my rather horrible predicament. And I was starting to feel guilty.

"Well, then, stop checking"

Hermione stopped abruptly, an angry expression plastered all over her face. I immediately regretted opening my mouth. I was so doomed.

"This is not something that is just going to pass, Corinne. You're going to study here for 7 years! Now, unless you turn out to not be my sister, and actually have pureblood running through your system, they are not going to leave you alone. Especially not Malfoy. He's going to taunt you to get to me, in order to get to Harry. He's not going to stop."

"Well, I'm not going to let him, Hermione. I'm stronger than you think."

"This isn't about being strong!" her voice had grown louder, to the point where she was almost screaming. She looked more tired now, her eyes were teary and her cheeks were red.

That's when I realised that she didn't deserved to be put through this. I was being too selfish. I was doing exactly what Malfoy wanted me to do. I was getting my sister involved in something that was becoming just another weight that she had to carry. I was suddenly becoming a burden.

"Is this Snape's classroom, then?"

"What?"

"I have class." I said before turning my back on my sister and rushing out of her sight. I was already in the dungeons, where my common room was located, and I knew that somewhere here was Snape's classroom. I couldn't be too far from it.

As I was walking at a rather slow pace, I found Ginny. She had Potions too, so I was thankfully rescued and we walked towards our Potions class together.

The conversation with my sister still circled around my head. It was clearly going to be a distraction in class. I had to come up with a plan to make her think that I wasn't having such a bad time at Slytherin, and she had to fully believe it. Else, she wouldn't let it go.

Class was surprisingly boring. We didn't move far from basic first year introduction to potions, and the fact that Snape's voice resembled that of a drone; I was very close to falling asleep. But I knew I had very little time to figure out a way to get Hermione off my back, and back to sleep.

I wasn't much of an expert in biology, but I knew that lack of sleep affected the human body a lot. I couldn't really name the specific chemical reactions or what happens to neurons specifically, but I knew that the effect of not sleeping is similar to that of being under an incredible amount of stress. It wasn't healthy for my sister, and I didn't want to damage her health.

An idea struck as my attention was focused on the answer my roommate was giving. Her name was Astoria Greengrass, and she was a pureblood. Actually, her sister, Daphne Greengrass, was part of Malfoy's annoying set of monkeys. But Astoria seemed different. First of all, she wasn't mean to me when I first set foot on my room. She didn't even look at me. I was honestly expecting a nasty comment about having to share room with a muggle-born, maybe an overly exaggerated act of drawing a line and ordering me not to ever cross it. But none of that happened. She even let me choose which bed I wanted to sleep in and said I could use the bathroom first if I wanted to.

We had another roommate, and her name was Melody, but she wasn't mean either. I do not think she even knew I was the Granger girl Malfoy had sworn to make every Slytherin hate. I didn't speak to them, though. However, maybe I should. If I do so, Hermione will be less worried about my safety inside Slytherin. It was a plan I was willing to try.

So after class, I asked Ginny to meet me at the Lake. I needed someone who knew about the magical families. Ginny was born into this world, and she probably knew more about the Greengrass family than I could ever learn from research. Plus, she had soon become quite possibly my only friend so far. Someone I could talk to whose surname wasn't the same as mine. She accepted and now all I had to do was wait down by the Lake after lunch.

Lunch was an unfortunate part of my day. The reason being that I had to sit at the Slytherin table. The same went to breakfast and dinner. That day I didn't feel like eating, so I skipped lunch and decided to go to the Lake and wait for Ginny.

The lake provided beautiful scenery and a strange aura of tranquillity. Exactly what I needed after everything that had happened: peace.

As I waited, I decided to skip rocks to keep me entertained. I didn't know how much time Ginny was going to take so I might as well do something. Except, I wasn't very good at skipping rocks, so I got bored fairly quickly.

"You're Malfoy's new target, aren't you?" a deep voice said from behind me. I turned too quickly, managing to get a little dizzy as a result, what with being in Slytherin with no allies at all the only person I can rely on to watch my back is me.

"Do I… know you?" I blinked rapidly trying to blink away the colourful spots that now adorned the figure that I didn't know. It wasn't hard for me to not know someone. I was a first year, and I had only lived in Hogwarts for a few weeks. Also, the fact that my house hated me didn't really allow me to become socially involved or even included.

"I think you've seen me around. Slytherin, second year." He reached out to shake my hand, but I held back. He was a Slytherin. I wasn't going to trust him that easily. So far, any Slytherin was my enemy, as far as I knew at least. Even more second years, because that was the grade Malfoy was in. "Okay, not gonna shake my hand. I'm Matthew, and I'm not with Malfoy if that's what this is about." The disdain in his voice when he pronounced Malfoy took me by surprise, but he could just as well be acting.

I stood rooted to my spot, unconsciously crossing my arms and closing myself even more. I nodded and forced a small smile. Far behind him I saw Ginny coming towards us, and a huge sense of relief washed over me. The less Slytherins were near me, the better.

"Right. I'll see you round." He said smiling before he turned away and walked away. The awkward encounter left me feeling uneasy. No Slytherin talked to me. Period. It was a rule that King Malfoy had written. Yet here he was, trying to initiate a proper introduction. It smelled like funny business to me, and I didn't like the rotten smell.

"Hey Gin, how was lunch?" I asked once she was close enough to hear me

"It was fine. Hermione was asking for you, seemed worried," said Ginny dropping her things near a tree, and sitting down. "So what's up?"

"Yeah, she's a worrier." I rolled my eyes and sat down next to her. "Well, do you know anything about the Greengrass sisters?"

"The Greengrass? Well, they're popular for the same reason that the Malfoy family is. Influential purebloods. Their dad works with my dad, not in the same department of course, but in the Ministry. He is not fond of muggles. Honestly, he is like any other pureblood stuck up. Why?"

"So, his daughters are probably like Malfoy copies?"

"I don't know. Never met them. Daphne is Malfoy's friend, though. More like follower."

"Right."

"Are they pestering you too?" she asked annoyed, possibly ready to quick their asses too, if she had to. The thought almost made me laugh.

"No, although they might in a future. Malfoy's the king of Slytherin. That guy just now, probably a new plan to really crush me."

"You mean Matthew Fitzgerald? Oh, please. There is no way he is with Malfoy."

"Do you know him?"

"No, but my brother told me about what happened between them last year. Ron said it was genius. That guy completely humiliated Malfoy. Called him a coward right in front of the entire Slytherin house. Much like you did, actually. But, Matthew's a pureblood, so Slytherin didn't turn against him. Malfoy lost a lot of credibility after that. His father had to buy the Quidditch team new brooms and Merlin knows what else."

"So, you're saying Matthew and Malfoy are not friends?"

"Quite the contrary. Matthew hates Malfoy's guts." Ginny paused for a while, and then leaned closer, almost as though she was telling a really big secret. "If you're looking for an ally inside Slytherin, Matthew's your guy. He is almost as influential as Malfoy is, if not more. It's like Salazar Slytherin was the king, and Matthew and Malfoy were the princes who were fighting for the throne. Plus, he's nice to like at."

"How you know that?"

"Did you not look at him just now?"

"What?"

Ginny laughed and said, "It's history. You can ask your sister. There are only a selected number of wizarding families who are 100% pureblood. There aren't many that still remain entirely pure today, but among those few are the Malfoys and the Fitzgeralds."

"But, wouldn't that mean that Matthew probably has the same prejudices that Malfoy has?" I asked feeling the hope drain out of my body.

Allying myself with Matthew Fitzgerald would grant me a high rank inside Slytherin social circles, and it would also mean that my sister could finally stop worrying about me. However, if Matthew was so pure-or whatever-, what were the odds of him not hating muggle-borns as much as Malfoy did?

"I think you're forgetting that some families don't care about that." Ginny signal her whole self, and I couldn't help but smile. "Anyway, gotta run. Catch you with you later?"

"Sure thing."

"Oh! By the way, your condition," she said marking the word condition in a mocking tone, "it's called being a metamorphmagus. It's not a sickness, and it is actually pretty cool. You should feel lucky, it's almost as rare as being a 100% pureblood." She winked and then stood up. She helped me up and we both began walking towards the castle between jokes and friendly punches.

I didn't ask anything further about what being a metamorphmagus was about, because that wasn't what worried me at that particular time, and I already kind of knew. I knew I was that because McGonagall saw how my hair went from my natural blonde to a fire red when Malfoy said he would rather die than eat in the same table as a mudblood. Only a few saw that (because they were too busy laughing at Malfoy's wit and congratulating him. Bunch of idiots), but I was later explained how the thing worked. I was also learning to control it, and someday I was going to use it to my advantage and get back at Malfoy.

On another note, I was mostly preoccupied about Matthew Fitzgerald, and I was seriously planning on letting him inside my master plan. I didn't really have a master plan, but if I could get Matthew on my side I knew it would make Malfoy so angry. And I just wouldn't miss a chance to get him upset. It was just so fun.


	3. Impact

**WARNING: This chapter can, maybe, be a bit strong regarding matters of bullying and its effects. It's for plot purposes and character introduction. **

**thanks :)**

Sitting at the Slytherin table was strategic. I couldn't just sit with the other first years, because I wasn't like them. I had to be extremely careful to not sit to close to the front and not too in the middle. Usually, I arrived late so I could distinctly see where the majority of Slytherins were sat. Upon closer examination, and having eaten at the same table for a while now, Slytherins liked sitting either at the very front of the room, or the middle, but didn't like to sit at the far back. I have a theory as to why:

Seeing how incredibly competitive Slytherin was, specially if they had to win over Gryffindor, metaphorically speaking, Slytherins always sat at the front of everything, be it a class or the Great Hall, because they needed to accentuate that sense of being the best of the best; of being superior. They just couldn't sit at the back because that would mean they weren't at the top. And, believe me, not being at the top was worse than death to a Slytherin because if they do not have their pride, they really have nothing.

But I wasn't a true Slytherin, per say. Or maybe I was, but I didn't care to mingle with people that I knew were going to throw insults my way regardless of what I did. It didn't matter that I had only called Malfoy a coward once and retracted to my own secluded space away from any human interaction. No, because I was still breathing the same air that they were breathing inside of the common room, hence contaminating it, and that was-of course-no one's fault but mine. Hell, they didn't even blame it on the Sorting Hat and Hogwarts as an institution-or more like, they didn't really place all the blame on them-but the fault was all mine for even existing.

Malfoy had made, obviously, some pretty nasty comments about Dumbledore being a useless, waste of space for actually accepting mudbloods. But that didn't matter, because mudbloods still came here and it was our fault that we were treated like trash. Because, as Malfoy so nicely placed it, we were lower than trash.

I didn't believe a word that came out of that idiot's mouth. To believe anything that he said would mean that he was right, and of course he wasn't. However, that didn't mean that the constant pestering and nasty names, which I heard every day, weren't starting to get to me. It wasn't something that I was ready to admit to anyone, not even to Ginny and of course not my sister. I was beginning to think that Hermione was right when she said that it had nothing to do with being strong. Although, probably I wasn't as strong as I thought I was or even as tough as I acted. I was 11, and my maturity level was way down. A 17-year-old version of me would probably know what to do about the whole situation, but, again, I was only 11. I didn't know half of the things that older people knew, but I was pretending to know them by acting like it didn't do a thing to my emotional state. When, actually, it was slowly deteriorating me.

As hard as it was for me to admit this, there had been times where I had to skip lunch, run to my room, lock myself in the bathroom, turn on the water and cried until I felt at least a tiny bit better. What a waste of water, you'd say. It was, actually. But I couldn't risk someone catching me; because it could be used against me and that was the last thing I wanted.

The weeks went on and on, and the only thing that I had accomplished was losing weight. It wasn't planned or anything, but as the taunting progressed so did my lack of appetite.

Ginny was the first to notice. I knew this because she had tried to give me food when she noticed I skipped lunch and dinner. I had breakfast purely for survival reasons, because I didn't want to die. But my stomach soon didn't require having neither lunch nor dinner.

I can see why it would set off a big, alarming, red bottom to Ginny, which is why I did something that I eventually came to regret: I learned to use my metamorphmagus abilities to make me look as if all that weight I had lost had suddenly returned. Stupidest decision of my life thus far, but it worked wonders. Ginny stopped worrying about me, and my sister never noticed.

So far, everything was seemingly working my way. I hadn't made any friends in Slytherin, but my absenteeism at dinner and lunch lower the encounters Slytherin idiots and I had, so my sister rarely saw or heard anything. Again, it worked wonders.

As for my mental state and emotional development, it wasn't working wonders.

One day, as I was yet again skipping lunch by going to the lake instead, the tough appearance that I had managed to pull off in front of the entire Slytherin house; broke spontaneously. Just like losing weight, I hadn't planned for it to happen. It just did. My metamorphmagus illusion broke too, and only then did I notice just how freakishly thin my arms were. They weren't I'm-about-to-die thin-because I ate a lot at breakfast, is not like I didn't eat anything-but they had lost a significant amount of mass, enough to be noticed by people that I usually hung with. Hopefully not noticeable enough for any of my daily bullies to take note of, though.

As the realisation of just how much power Malfoy and their monkeys had over me, my crying intensified. I was suddenly terrified of what was to become of me. It was terribly depressing to see the state in which I found myself to be in, and immensely frightening too. The shock of seeing such how deeply it was affecting me rocked me harder than I ever though possible, and without caring anymore if anyone saw me, be it my sister or my bullies, I entirely allowed myself to grieve.

But of course, life couldn't just let me be. It couldn't just allow me to have one moment of public weakness without actually being spotted. Worse than being just spotted by some passengers, I was unluckily spotted by none other than Pansy Parkinson; the most loyal bitch that Malfoy's got in his group of sickly obsessed followers. She was annoying, clingy, stupid, and a bitch. A really big, nasty bitch. Need I say more? I don't think so.

"Oh, look what we have were. What's the matter mudblood? Filtch had you confused with the rubbish, again?" She laughed wickedly at her own, rather lame, joke. I would have commented on her lack of wit and unoriginal insults, but I didn't.

At that moment, it didn't really matter how depressed I was feeling, because the moment she opened her mouth to mock me I felt nothing. Nothing. It takes a hell lot of taunting and emotional instability and a whole load of other cruel tortures to manage to make a person go numb. But I wasn't angry, to some extent I was starting to believe Malfoy's words. I was starting to believe that I wasn't as worthy as they were because of who my parents were. I was rubbish.

"What? Not gonna say anything now?"

And I really didn't say anything. I wasn't even looking at her.

"My, such lack of respect to your superiors, mudblood." Said a voice from behind Pansy. But I didn't look up with that either. That voice was nailed to my brain. I could recognise it anywhere.

"You know, my father says you should just leave. Would make everyone's life better. Even yours, I suspect." He laughed cruelly, and added, "not that your life could get any better, though."

Laughs filled my ears, and I felt as though I was sort of in a trance. Somewhere deep inside me, there was a voice that wanted to scream at them, to speak up. But my body didn't hold the sufficient strength to do so, so I just remained glued to the ground, crying as silently as I could muster; although I wasn't doing much of a good job.

"You're pathetic, Granger." Malfoy said with disgust.

"You're pathetic, Draco." Said another voice that I couldn't recognise. That was voice did not belong to someone who usually insulted me.

I looked up hoping to see my sister accompanied by her two best friends, but I didn't find them. I wiped my tears away with the dirty sleeve of my uniform and there I found Matthew Fitzgerald, a menacing look encrypted on his eyes. I, personally, would have been more afraid of Matthew than Malfoy right that moment.

"Mind your own business, Fitzgerald!"

"You don't tell me what to do, Malfoy." He took furiously fast steps towards Malfoy, standing perfectly still in front of him, close enough that their noses were almost touching. "You leave her alone. Now." Each syllable was pronounced slowly, dangerously.

Matthew was like a snake, and if Malfoy was not smart enough to back away, the snake was going to bite.

"What's it to you?"

"Don't play me."

Malfoy and Matthew stared at each other for a long minute. The look in both their eyes was so intense that I could see the hate leaking out as if it was fog. But eventually, Malfoy broke the staring contest, and with a last look of disgust directed to me, and a hissing "you'll regret this" to Matthew, he left.

"You okay?" Matthew asked me as he offered me his hand to help me up.

"Yeah, just…marvellous." I replied, attempting to stand on my own. But I failed miserably, my legs were not responding. Great.

"Come on, I'm just helping you up not asking you to marry me."

"Who said anything about marriage?"

"For Merlin's sake, just let people help you!" He let out an exasperated sigh, and without my permission, he placed his hands on me and deliberately forced me up.

"Well, thank you, but I don't need your help and I never gave you permission to touch me." I rested my body on the tree, waiting for some strength to come back so I could walk away from this embarrassing situation. I was trying to sound angry, but my voice was still thick from sobbing so I bet I resembled a fluffy bunny trying to attack a menacing wolf.

"You're thinner."

"Well, what an observation! Thank you, I worked hard for this body."

"It wasn't a compliment. It's the kind of thin related to malnourishment."

"Ugh, why don't you just go and leave me be, Fitzgerald. I'm sure you have more interesting stuff to do than helping a mudblood, don't you!" I felt the tears sting my eyes again, and I mentally slapped myself for being such a cry-baby. I hated Malfoy more than words could express.

"I don't think your blood is mud. You're human, and for that fact alone you deserve respect. Pureblood or not." He silently waited for my response, but nothing came from my mouth but more sobbing. "I'll see you at the dinner, Corinne."

With that, he departed. I was left alone, leaning on a tree, sobbing like a 2-year-old. I soon lost sense of time, and fell asleep right at the foot of the tree I was originally leaning against. I didn't know how much time it took for people to notice that I wasn't in class. Probably not much since I was Hermione Granger's sister, and if I didn't make enough appearances during the day, Hermione was capable of building a searching squad to look for my dead body (because in her mind I risked being murdered inside Slytherin, but of course I didn't. These people were bullies, but certainly not killers.)


	4. The Hospital Wing

I woke up in the Hospital Wing, alone. I felt weaker than I had ever felt in my whole life. It took all I had to even move a finger. Madame Pomfrey explained that I had anaemia, an aftermath of practically denying my body of the simple pleasure of eating. It wasn't like I didn't eat; I just skipped lunch and dinner. Even so, Hermione gave me a big speech, like a big sister should, I suppose. She went on and on about how only eating breakfast was just as bad as eating nothing at all, among some other things. She also swore that she was going to kill Malfoy with her bare hands. I didn't want to throw all the blame at him, but I didn't have much of a choice. Who else would have the fault? Malfoy was the one harassing me and my sister was fully informed about it.

So, now, not only had I made the fight between Malfoy and Harry worse, but I also had quite possibly worsened my situation in Slytherin too. And that was just what I needed, of course.

It was my second night at the Hospital Wing. My sister had just left and I was once again alone in the vast silence of the room. I would lie if I said that sleeping in the Hospital Wing felt safer than sleeping in my room inside Slytherin's common room. While I was under constant observation from Madame Pomfrey (she practically sat by my side until I was done eating), I didn't like the feeling of being in a place where people came to be sick and maybe even to possibly die. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration but I didn't like any of it.

I mean, ghosts were an actually thing in Hogwarts, but, if anything, I felt less safe here. It was weird, but I wanted to run as far from the Hospital Wing as possible. I don't know how Madame Pomfrey deals with this place. I would never be able to.

"Still awake?" said a voice that seemed pretty close by. I jumped slightly. I didn't want Malfoy anywhere near, even less if I was in a hospital bed, weak and naked underneath pretty thin clothes. I was suddenly too scared to even look for the voice, so I pretended to be deeply asleep. Hopefully, if I got attacked, Madame Pomfrey would catch Malfoy and he would be sent home to never return to Hogwarts again. Oh, but hoping was too easy, and Malfoy was not stupid. He was an idiot, but somehow he had some intellect. If monkeys had the potential to learn, then Malfoy could too, I suppose.

"C'mon, Granger, I'm not gonna hurt you" the chair beside my bed, the one Hermione was practically glued to, moved; indicating that someone had taken a sit. I regretted almost forcing Hermione to leave. It was in these kind of scenarios where I wished I had just listened to my sister instead of pushing her to do what I thought was best for her. Screw being a nice younger sister.

"I'm not Malfoy, if you must know."

That caught my attention, and, cautiously, I turned slightly; only so that I could see who was here in the middle of the night, whose voice I recognized but not enough to fully know said person. It had to be someone with whom I shared some sort of contact with; otherwise that person (presumably a "he" for the tone of voice) wouldn't know I was Granger, or that I was in the hospital, for that matter (because I would bet my life on Slytherin not being bothered about my mental or physical state).

But it was dark, and all I could see was some sort of shape sitting on a chair, watching me. It bordered on creepy, and I am not fond of creepy. Even so, in some wicked sense, it didn't strike me as someone who wanted to hurt me. Quite the contrary, his presence didn't seem threatening, it somehow seemed soothing, calm. Almost as though it was water or a hot bath. I really wanted a hot bath.

"So you _are _awake. Good, that means you're alive." His tone was almost mocking me, but that still didn't give me any clue as to who he was.

"Who are you?" I said. I didn't want to seem rude, (I suppose it's always appreciated that someone bothers to sneak out of his or her dormitory to come and check on you while you're in the hospital. But I wouldn't know) but I couldn't think of anything else to say. I didn't have the slightest idea of who he was.

He chuckled. It wasn't the you're-pathetic-chuckle that Malfoy often uses. No, it was more of an amused chuckle. However, that still didn't give me anything.

The silence lingered between us, then he finally said: "Fitzgerald, at your service."

The moment I heard his name, or more like surname, I almost fell off my bed. Not in a million years would I ever expect someone from Slytherin to ever come visit me. Much less anyone who was at Malfoy's level in the hierarchy of Slytherin's monarchy. I was at the very bottom and he was at the very top. It was crazy. What would every other Slytherin think about Matthew's actions? They would kill him. I was sure of it. I know I said Slytherins were not killers but I do not think that committing treason would be taken lightly, because let me tell you something: if there's one thing that Slytherins can't live without, that's pride. Oh hell no. You do not mess with the pride of a Slytherin because you will pay the consequences (you need to only look at me to know that). Now imagine one of Slytherin's finest specimen-or whatever- turning his back on the pack! If Malfoy hadn't killed me before, he would surely do so now.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to cover the panic that was quite possibly evident in my face, but thank god for darkness!

"Just came to check on you. Figured it wouldn't be a good idea with your sister near, but since she left I thought it'd be an appropriate moment."

"Are you stalking me, or something Fitzgerald?"

"Oh no. I've got better things to do, really." His tone was ice cold, and it made me think of Malfoy again. I hated Malfoy and his stupid ice, cold tone.

"Then leave." I said turning my back on him. Stupid Sltyherins and their stupid heads.

He didn't answer, but instead he obeyed quietly. I heard the echo of his footsteps leaving the Hospital Wing and immediately the silence and loneliness of the room filled me up again.

I didn't like being alone. I guess that's the main reason why I hated Slytherin so much. I didn't have a single friend. Everyone treated me like I was either invisible or something lower than a pile of rubbish. Each was as bad as the other. I honestly didn't know which one was the worse: people knowing you exist but hating you with all their guts without even knowing you or people not even knowing you are sharing part of the world with them. Both made my self-esteem go lower and lower. I didn't want to be in Hogwarts anymore. I was going to wait for the Holiday vacations and I was not coming back. Screw magic, it wasn't worth everything that Malfoy was putting me through. Hermione could swear north and south that she was going to make him pay and that she was going to protect me all she wanted, but, in the end, she doesn't have any sort of power over Malfoy. She could do all she wanted _outside_ Slytherin territory, but inside… it was a completely different story.

That night, the last night I was going to spend at the Hospital Wing, I couldn't sleep. For some reason, and I didn't know which, I didn't want to leave. I know I said I didn't feel save inside the Hospital Wing, but I'd take the Hospital Wing and it's unattractive atmosphere over Malfoy's harassment any day.

I turned on my bed for hours, and I even remember seeing the sunrise through the window. So, apparently, I didn't sleep at all.

My sister, her friends and Ginny came to help me once Madame Pomfrey announced that I could finally leave. She gave me a couple of potions, to level the nutrients that I was lacking, and a rather worried "Good luck".

I didn't really have too many stuff to carry (because I didn't have any friends) but they offered to help me anyway, and I was a little too weak to refuse. I would allow it for today.

The Slytherin Common room portrait, whose name I still didn't know, did not allow my sister to accompany me. Hermione would keep on screaming at the poor portrait, but it wouldn't give in. Like I said, once inside Slytherin territory there was nothing that my sister could do to protect me from the nastiness of the stuck-up purebloods. They thought I was disgusting, but to me, they were repulsive.

I managed to get to my room unnoticed, and I thanked whoever was up there for that. I had been in the Hospital Wing for 3 days now, but that didn't mean that I had all my strength back. Quite the contrary; I felt tired and I only wanted to sleep and not be bothered by anyone. So that's what I was intending to do. Especially because I had managed to not sleep at all.

I put away my things, which weren't many, and I blissfully decided to lie on my bed. It was more comfortable than the ones at the Hospital Wing. It was almost like sleeping on a feather. Pure bliss.

As soon as my head touched the soft pillow, I was gone. I don't even remember falling asleep. It happened so quickly and spontaneously that my brain didn't record it, it just followed through like: "hey, good idea. I'M OUT."

I don't know how much I slept, but it was probably too much. I didn't make any appearances in class or in the Great Hall. In fact, I woke up to darkness. I woke up to find that my roommates were already sleeping. I didn't know what time it was, but I was starving. I needed to get some food.

After tying my shoelaces and putting on my most comfortable hoodie, I decided to sneak out of my room and look for some sort of refreshments. Of course, I didn't even know where to start looking. Not my brightest idea, but maybe someone left some pastries somewhere in the common room. Maybe Crabbe, maybe Goyle, either way, it was worth the try. However, it was rather disappointing that whatever those two pigs did with all the cake they managed to get into the common room, wasn't anywhere near sight. And of course it wasn't. Everything Malfoy had of nastiness, they had on appetite.

I sighed and decided to just sit on the sofa. It was made of leather and it eradiated the most comfortable heat that I've ever been exposed to. I suppose that if I wasn't a muggle-born, I would probably actually enjoy it here. The place was very elegant, and somewhat dark. It didn't have many colours, in fact most of the stuff that adorned the room where either black or a dark shade of green. I don't think my sister would like this place. It was more often cold than hot; maybe due to the fact that we were pretty much underground, and the structures of the place-architectonically speaking- were very dramatic. It had a very gothic style, like most of the castle really. But, contrary to Hogwarts as a whole, the Slytherin common room didn't seem too inviting. It was luxurious, comfortable even, but not to outsiders. I think you need to be a Slytherin to find this particular common room welcoming. I didn't have a problem with the rather mysterious, cold and even dark atmosphere that the common room provided because it seemed like home, really. I've never been a fan of bright colours, so it doesn't really bother me. My sister, however, would probably hate this place. She would even find it depressing. What would you know; maybe I was a Slytherin after all. The simple idea scares me a little.

"Thought I heard noises." A voice said much too close to me. I jumped slightly, ready to make a run for it if I had to. "Always the scared cat. Again, I'm not Malfoy."

I got up with the intention of returning to my room. But then, I stopped. Fitzgerald said he was at my service the night before, and I was hungry. Maybe he knew how to get food. That was an opportunity that I was not willing to pass.

"Say, do you know how to get food?" I asked, crossing my arms so that he knew that I meant business. Or so that my stomach didn't growl to the mention of food.

"I do." He answered as calm as the Lake.

"Well, can you get me some?"

"Why would I do that? Students aren't supposed to be out of bed this late."

"Oh, please. You were out of bed yesterday and went all the way to the Hospital Wing and back. Surely you can get food at this hour, too."

He chuckled, "you're weird. What do you want?"

"Food, what else?"

He shrugged, muttered all right and left. I wasn't really expecting him to come back with something, but it got me angry that not even someone that seemed relatively nice would help me. He knew I had just gotten out of the Hospital Wing, and he also knew I had lost weight because I was not eating properly. He could at least have some sort of empathy and try to help. But no! There goes Slytherin showing how little sympathy they can have for another human being. Honestly, what did their parents even teach them? My parents were always firm about helping people that needed it. Even muggle parents were better, pureblood my ass!

As I was done having my mental rant, Fitzgerald magically returned from God knows were. He lighted his wand up and handed me a bunch of sweets. From cupcakes to some things that Ron once called every flavour bean, or something.

I looked up at Matthew with suspicion in my eyes, but he was only faintly smiling.

"Where you get those?" I asked trying not to drool at how delicious those cakes looked. I loved cake.

"Crabbe and Goyle think they're too smart, but their hideout is really not that hard to find."

Ha! I knew those two pigs hid their desserts somewhere. I just didn't know them enough to know where. It was understandable; I was only a first year, a rejected first year. Matthew was a second year, and he was, as I had mentioned before, part of the Slytherin royalty. He obviously knew his way around.

"Go on, then. You were hungry, right?" he said pushing the heavenly things closer to me. My stomach growled in anticipation, but I was so hungry that it wasn't even embarrassing that Matthew probably heard it. I grabbed the first cake and could properly hear the angels sing.

From that moment on, Matthew became my friend. I questioned it, at first. Why would a second year hang with a first year? Moreover, why would a second year Slytherin royalty hang with a first year that was considered lower than dirt? Ginny thought that it was probably because he fancied me. But, of course, he didn't (and I knew this because I had shamelessly asked him myself. He laughed in my face.)


	5. First Friends and Ginny's Mad

Ginny had been avoiding me like the plague. I first thought that it was because I was finally making some Slytherin acquaintances, besides Matthew, that were actually in my year. Melody Downkork was the first girl that ever talked to me in a civilised manner. Melody was loud and had little regard for rules and authority. I'm guessing that's kind of the reason she talked to me. Melody was a pureblood, like most people in Slytherin (of course), but she literally did not give two damns about social conventions regarding blood purity that pretty much ruled the Slytherin realm. I took a quick liking to her, and even though I wouldn't call her my best friend, she was definitely the closest I had to a Slytherin girl friend. She became somewhat of a confidant, someone I knew I could rely on. But then again, I wouldn't share _everything_ with her. Like I said, Melody wasn't within the circle of people I would blindly trust. Even so, she was nice company.

The other girl we shared a room with was the sister of one of Malfoy's empty-minded followers. Her name was Astoria Greengrass. She never talked, period. While at some point I thought that she didn't talk because I was not a pureblood, and hence not on her level, she didn't talk to Melody either. Therein where I deduced that she just wasn't too much of a talker. But Melody was enough for the both of them, so eventually Astoria started talking. My bet was that she gave in; she either joined our talks or drowned in her own bitterness while trying to sleep and not being able to. It also didn't help that Melody kept on stubbornly dragging her into our little night chats. Astoria may have been shy at first, and certainly doubtful about associating with a muggle-born such as myself, but eventually she started to mold into the group that I was slowly finding myself to be in. I didn't know if her sister knew, probably she didn't because I would have thought Daphne to tell her sister off or something; something that hadn't happened. Matthew said that it was probably because the Greengrass sisters didn't really get along, but Astoria rarely talked about her family so I couldn't back Matthew up with his theory. Although he probably knew far more than I did and didn't even need my backup.

The last two that belonged to our little group were Lisa Cropper, and her twin brother John Cropper. I didn't share a room with Lisa, seeing as she was a year older than I was. However, Lisa and John were really good friends with Matthew. Since he spent most of his time with me, I suppose they decided to join in, too. Much like Matthew, John and Lisa didn't care that I was a muggle-born, much to my relief. So now, I had two new friends in my year group and another two in a year above. They were really nice people, and I tried to introduce them to Ginny whenever the opportunity was given, but she would always leave with pretty lame excuses. If I didn't know her any better, I would have probably believed her excuses for not wanting to spend time with my new friends and me. But I did know her, and the fact that she went from lively, vivacious Ginny Weasley to secluded, ghostly Ginevra Weasley turned a bright red alert in my brain.

Adding to Ginny's odd behaviour, things in Hogwarts had started to get more and alarming too. Apparently there was a thing called The Chamber of Secrets and, thanks to the messages written on the wall by God knows who, the whole school knew it had been opened.

So far; a cat, 2 boys, and a ghost had been petrified. I didn't even know that ghosts could be petrified. Then again, I didn't know ghost existed before Hogwarts so I was probably the least likely to understand half of the things that were going on at the present time. Not that it mattered, though. I had Hermione, the ever-walking encyclopaedia, and Matthew, pureblood extraordinaire, who had more life experiences than theory (which is pretty much what Hermione had).

"I think your sister could have a very valid point." Matthew said, once he was done eating his dinner.

"Yeah, but Malfoy? I mean, look at him!" I had told Matthew about how Hermione, Harry and Ron were pretty convinced that the Heir of Slytherin, and the one responsible for the petrifications circling around the school, was none other than Draco Malfoy. Matthew moved forward slightly in his sit to eye Malfoy. Sure enough, he was being praised about something by his dim-witted idiots. There was no way in hell that Malfoy was the heir. Not now, not ever.

Matthew rolled his eyes, "alright, he _is _rather lame."

"Not to mention a coward." I added, eyeing Malfoy with a hateful expression. As he tucked a piece of whatever he was eating into his disgusting little mouth, I silently wished he'd choke. I imagined his petty little face turning bright red while his hands went for his neck, stupidly trying to breath. As if wrapping his disgusting looking hands around his stupid chicken neck would help him in the slightest. I imagined how his face would then turn purple, as the oxygen left his body. The idea caused me to smirk, but as soon as the smirk appeared it was gone. It scared me how my imagination could turn to such dark places. It was one thing to hate the kid, but another entirely to wish him death. Or maybe it was ok, as long as I didn't act in response.

"You alright there, Corinne?" Matthew snapped me out of my very scary fantasies. He had one eyebrow raised, his eyes slowly scanning my face.

I quickly recovered, knowing he'd _know _if I didn't keep my features under control, "Perfectly fine, yeah."

But his suspicious eyes didn't leave my face, and his raised eyebrow did not return to its normal place. Suddenly, he got up, grabbed my arm and forcefully pulled me up with him. I started to protest, but it was futile. I didn't want to make a scene in the Great Hall, what with the teachers present, and my sister there, and Malfoy too. So instead, I tried my best not to trip and followed his hurried steps out of the crowed hall.

Once outside, I kept on following his almost frantic galloping. His head darted to different directions, and then he would turn left or right depending on which choice dealt with less crowded aisles. He finally stopped; rounding one last corner, then checked if the we were really alone.

"Would you _care_ to explain what the hell was that about?" I asked, slightly annoyed and out of breath. Matthew was taller than me; his legs covered more ground than mine did, so after practically running after him I obviously had to use more oxygen since my pace was more hurried than his because of his stupid long legs.

"Why didn't you say you were a metamorphmagus?" he asked, completely disregarding my clearly annoying tone of voice. His tone was serious, his face straight. I hated that most Slytherins were so goddamn good at hiding their emotions. I wanted to have that ability so badly. The possibilities of completely covering your features with a mask were endless!

Matthew raised his eyebrows, exasperated. He was probably waiting for a quick answer, but I didn't even know what he was asking. I had forgotten by now what word he had even used. It had sounded like a complicated word, one I did not know at all. Metamorphosis? Is that what he said? Metatate? Metamarph? Memphsus? Were those even real words?

"Corinne!" he screamed, his face now showing how irritated and slightly worried he was. Ha! I had cracked his emotionless mask of coolness. Corinne Granger, the cracker of Slytherins supreme! "What's so funny? This is serious, for Merlin's sake!"

I cursed again that I couldn't have enough control of my facial expressions to hide how amusing I thought my thoughts were, "What do you want, Fitzgerald?" I answered, a tad bit annoyed. He had, after all, dragged me out of dinner. It was ok that he was done eating, but I wasn't. Plus, I wasn't done hating Malfoy. It was only rude to interrupt one's hatred.

"For you to tell me, in all honesty, why you didn't think to mention that you were a metamorphmagus, Granger."

"Metarphus? What on earth is a metarphus?"

Matthew rolled his eyes, and sighed, clearly irritated. "This is no time for jokes, Corinne. I mean it when I say that this is serious."

"I'm not joking! I honestly don't know what a metarphus is!" he was starting to anger me. Expecting me to just _know _what he was talking about. He knew I was new, maybe _too _new, to this whole world and yet here he was demanding that I tell him something that I didn't freaking know.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm down. Matthew, in general, was one of the most well put together person I've ever met. He was able to maintain sanity when most people couldn't. I would often compare him to water. Water's easy going, and adapts to any container you put it into. That was who Matthew was. He just flowed, much like water did. When you ask people to calm down, most would think about the sound of the ocean; waves crashing into the shore with a soft, harmonious sound. Or falling rain, soft drizzles that could lull anything into a state of utter tranquillity. Matthew was water. Not that water wasn't destructive, I'm sure Matthew could be like a tsunami if provoked. But, for the most part, he was a very halcyon boy.

"Matt, I really don't know what you're talking about." I dared to approach him, slowly, like someone who approaches the unknown.

"Do you really not know what a metamorphmagus is?" his eyes were glued to the floor, refusing to look at me. It was as though the fact that I was whatever he said I was troubled him deeply. As if it meant trouble, the kind of trouble that could cause a war.

I shook my head, indicating him that I didn't.

The silence in the room grew dense after my truthful response. I could see Matthew's head working in a million directions, looking for either a way to explain or a way to avoid having to. It was obvious he knew something I completely ignored, and what was worse, it was something that concerned me. How could he know more about myself than I did? It was ridiculous.

"I'm guessing you're telling me?" I asked, feeling the intense necessity to speak. I didn't like silence. Silence was a slow murderer. It was as deafening as someone screaming in my ear, maybe even more so.

He ran a shaky hand through his dark brown hair, "Well, I have to. Don't I?" his eyes were still not looking at me, and it scared me that maybe I was something worse than a muggle-born. Maybe I wasn't even human, a creature that he really did hate as much as Malfoy hated muggle-borns. Would Hermione hate me, too?

"Metamorphmagi are extremely rare. I mean…you have to understand that there is probably just 1 in a zillion." He stopped, and then finally dared to meet my eyes. "You know, I first suspected it when Malfoy's harassment started to take a toll on you. One day, you were sitting by Lake and before they started to pick on you, your hair was blonde. But then, they came and started calling you names. I could tell it upset you, but that wasn't what caught my attention. It was your hair. It started getting darker and darker until it reached a deep black. You see what I'm saying?"

"Yeah I see what you're saying. You need glasses, that's it." I said matter-of-factly. I wasn't another creature. I was human, but this dumb idiot had just seen wrong. "My hair is blonde. See?" I said showing one lock to him, but to my surprise my hair wasn't my natural blonde. Instead, it was an ugly shade of bright red. Not like Ginny's. No, this was actual red.

I dropped the lock that I had wrapped around my finger as though it was on fire. My heart began beating faster and faster. I was too scared about whatever that had just happened to conjure a logical thought. I was panicking. I was a monster. Humans don't change their hair colour just like that! Humans have one hair colour, and if they wished to change it, they went to saloon. I hadn't gone to a saloon since my arrival at Hogwarts and, if I had, I wouldn't dye my hair this ugly shade of red!

"That's the thing that metamorphmagi do. They have the ability to alter their physical appearance at _will. _You don't need potions or spells, unlike the rest of us." Matthew continued, watching in either admiration or fear-I didn't know- as my hair returned to its natural blonde.

"AM I HUMAN?!" the high-pitch in my voice gave my panic away. Tears were starting to gather in the pits of my eyes. I didn't want this. How did I get rid of this? Was there some antidote I could take? Take it back! I don't want it!

"What?" Matthew's face contorted into a very confused expression, and then he did something I didn't think he could given that I was a freaking monster; he laughed.

His laughter grew louder when he saw just how panicked and now confused I was. My anger grew ten thousand times more intense, causing my hair to change to a dangerous shade of bright, firely orange. It probably looked like my hair was on actual fire. My eyes changed to a bright red, and only then did Matthew stop laughing. I probably looked more hideous than anything in the whole world. A sense of satisfaction swam through me.

"Alright, alright now. Calm down. You are still human, Corinne. You were just born with a rather brilliant ability. Trust me, a lot of wizards and witches alike would kill for what you were born with." He smiled encouragingly. Like a big brother would when he was excruciatingly proud of his little sister. It was meant to calm me down, and I have to admit that it did. I was relieved that he didn't hate me for this thing that I could do, relieved that I as human and relieved that Hermione wouldn't hate me either. God knows I could deal with Matthew's hatred, but never with Hermione's.

"If that is all, why were you looking so troubled then? I mean it's not dangerous, is it?" I asked remembering how just mere minutes ago he was practically having a panic fit himself.

Matthew eyed me cautiously. I could tell he definitely knew something important about this newly discovered gift of mine. Yet, I doubt he would tell me. It was written all over his face. A secret he clearly wasn't bound to reveal.

"That's not for me to tell." And with those last words, Matthew turned his back on me and started to walk away.

It had been weeks since Matthew and I ever spoke of this whole metamorphmagus business. For some reason, he refused to talk about it, always claiming that it was not his business to begin with. It seemed as though he had very clear instructions to not tell me anything no matter how hard I pressed, but I didn't know from where or from whom he was getting them. My first instinct was that it probably had to do with Hermione, and yet she genuinely didn't know what I was talking about. Eventually she did her own research on metamorphmagi, and I received more information than I ever got from Matthew's stubborn sealed lips. However, I still had no idea why he seemed so out of himself when he first drew his hypothesis into one conclusion. He was angry, confused, bewildered and concerned. He sometimes even seemed paranoid. For example, the other day we were walking through the aisles of Hogwarts towards the Lake. The whole way, he kept on looking around, as if we were being followed; eyes big and alert. All paranoid actions right there.

I had tried to get him to tell me what was wrong, because something definitely was, but he said he didn't know what I was talking about. After trying so hard, I eventually gave up on him. I would just have to find another way around it, find someone else who could tell me why it was such a big deal that I was a metamorphmagus. Sure, they were extremely rare, but that wasn't what was bothering Matthew. There was something else there, something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

To make matters worse, my week couldn't have gotten any better when I was asked by Professor McGonagall to accompany her. She claimed that it was urgent, and I didn't know what could be so urgent at the current time. A Quidditch match had just been cancelled, and everybody knew that it was because of another attack. Sure, that was an emergency, but not one that I was particularly needed for.

My first thoughts revolved around them finding out that I could alter my physical appearance at will. I didn't know if it required any special classes or even treatments. Hermione hadn't said anything about it, and Matthew definitely hadn't either. I mean, it wasn't like it was a disease. Honestly, I couldn't help what I was.

I followed Professor McGonagall through the many aisles of Hogwarts. She walked hurriedly, but without running. It was easier to follow Professor McGonagall's hurried pace than Matthew's, and I secretly thanked God for it. As we neared two big, dark wooden doors, my memory yanked me back to when I was hospitalised. The memories of being held here as my health got back to normal caused my stomach to turn. Sure, I wasn't in the Hospital Wing for more than a few days, but those were still dark days for me. It reminded me of Malfoy's constant bullying, of how worthless and inadequate he made him feel. Of how stupid I was to give him so much power over me. It made me sick.

The doors opened, and Professor McGonagall turned to looked at me. Her wrinkled face showed just how worried she was. I looked around the room, my attention being caught by Ron's singular ginger hair. Beside him stood Harry, both had a dreadful expression upon their faces.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Granger." I didn't know what McGonagall was sorry for, but everything seemed out of place.

I made my way towards my sister's two best friends, following their lost gaze once I was close enough. Suddenly, the world stopped. My heart got caught in my throat. Time had seemed to stop. Everything was becoming blurry. I tried breathing but oxygen wasn't flowing through my body anymore. My vision kept on becoming blurrier and blurrier, probably because I was crying but I couldn't quite register what I was doing.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting by Hermione's bed; holding her cold hand, crying silently was Ron and Harry stared, trying hard not to crumble as I had. Professor McGonagall said she was just petrified, reassured me that she was going to be okay over and over again, but I wasn't listening to a word she said. My eyes were just staring at the non-moving figure of my sister. The elder Professor seemed to have noticed, so she talked to Ron and Harry instead.

I was devastated. This was worse than anything I had ever imagined. My worst fears were coming alive, they were becoming real. This was something I wasn't prepared for. There was absolutely nothing I could do about this except…

I abruptly stood up, angry tears still showering down my face but I honestly didn't care. If Hermione and her friends were right and Draco bloody Malfoy was this so-called heir of Slytherin, he was going to listen to me. I was done hiding from the likes of that dumb brute; I was getting some answers and I was getting them right now. No one messed with my sister. No one.

I felt eyes on me as I ran out of the Hospital Wing. It killed me slightly that I was momentarily and willing leaving my sister behind, but I had to get to Malfoy before anything else happened. Besides, she was in good hands. Harry and Ron wouldn't leave her alone, and I knew Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey would attend to her in a way that I couldn't. I was going back once I was done with the stupid Malfoy git.

I did my best to get to the Dungeons as fast as my feet allowed me. I was still fairly small, only around 4'7, therefore my legs were short and weren't able to cover a lot of surface area. But still, I was somewhat of an active girl. The type of girl that would have no problem with sports. I was already one of the best flyers in my flying lessons, because most of the girls were too scared of heights, but also because I was just good at sports. So, even if my legs were short, I was running pretty damn fast.

In no time, I was already in the all too familiar eeriness of the Dungeons. I remember the first days of being a Slytherin, and how the Dungeons used to give me the creeps. But now, it was different. It actually felt like home, in a rather wicked and weird sense. I guess it could be a cozy place if you got used to the darkness and the cold.

As soon as I crossed the portrait hall into the Slytherin common room, I ran into someone. Because I was particularly angry, and naturally the ever-impulsive younger Granger, I snapped at the owner of the body I had ran into.

"Watch where you're going, will you!?" I said rolling my eyes and pushing past him or her, I didn't know. It probably didn't sound as threatening as I had intended, though. Nothing sounded threatening when a first year muggle-born Slytherin said it, to my bad luck.

"That's no way to talk to your superiors, mudblood." the person voiced, venom purring out from each syllable. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"You're a coward." I said dangerously calm, turning slowly to face the bloody idiot. I could feel my blood boiling the moment my eyes met his. Words were not enough to describe how deeply I hated his guts. I felt every bone in my body screaming to hurt him; hurt him until he begged me to not to, just like he had once done with me. He didn't deserve anything.

Malfoy's eyes went from dangerously angry to widely surprised and slightly scared. "What are you, freak?!" he asked, his tone full of alarm. His two watchdogs backed away, their eyes as fearful as Malfoy's.

I suddenly felt someone's hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently but firmly. My anger didn't disappear, but I allowed myself to relax. I took in a big breath and exhaled, counting to ten as I did so. It was calming technique my mother had taught me when I was younger. It usually kept the odd physical alterations at bay, allowing me to control them.

"He petrified her, Matthew." I said, still not completely calm but relaxed enough to not launch at Malfoy and hurt him on mere impulse.

"I think you're jumping to conclusions here. Come on, we need to talk." Matthew whispered. "You'll draw attention like this, let's go," his whisper turned more into a warning when he saw that I wasn't moving.

I sighed and turned harshly away from Malfoy and deeper into the common room, that was now becoming more and more crowded. Matthew didn't follow me immediately. He stayed behind, to do what, I did not care. He probably gave Malfoy some sort of warning. I kept on moving until I found a secluded corner of the room. It was near the fireplace, and right in front of a big window that gave view into the depths of the lake. A green-ish glow came from that very same window, if only because of the Great Lake. I sat there, staring into the vastness of the lake. I wasn't looking at anything in particular. I was just staring.

Matthew joined me a few minutes later. As he sat, he rubbed his temples and sighed.

"I don't want a lecture." I said, still looking at The Great Lake through the window.

"You don't understand. Malfoy's not the heir, Corinne. I know he keeps on saying he wishes he was, but he's not."

"But Hermione said-"

"She was wrong, okay?" he sounded annoyed.

"But-"

"She jumped to conclusions without solid evidence. Go on; ask her friends if you don't believe me. Draco's not behind the attacks," he sighed, again. He was doing a lot of sighing lately. I turned to look at him for the first time since he sat down with me. I suspect he wasn't expecting me to turn to look at him at all because his whole face was imprinted with worry. "That's not important, anyway."

"My sister's petrified, how is that not important!" I snapped. Matthew rolled his eyes, irritated for some reason I couldn't comprehend.

"She'll be fine! Could you stop worrying about Hermione for a second and worry more about not shouting out to the world that you're a metamorphmagus! What happened back there with Malfoy's bad, Corinne, you hear me?" his voice was above a mere whisper, but he was still trying really hard not to scream at me.

"What's the big deal about that? I don't get it, Matthew, you magical people should be used to that!"

"Salazar, Corinne, stop acting like a bloody child!" he was now screaming, drawing attention to our little discussion. But of course what he had said made no sense whatsoever. I was a child. I was 11, for God's sake.

Matthew sent deadly looks to those few who stared intently at us. One particular pair of grey eyes was part of that group. Malfoy's eyes were poised on me, as if he was trying to remember something. It gave me chills, and made me decide to just go and lock myself in my room for the rest of the afternoon.

**AUTHOR NOTE**

**That was a long chapter… sorry about that! Hopefully the length doesn't bother some of you. Sorry for taking so long, I was struggling with the content in this one. ANYWAY, hope it is of your liking! **

**-Tanz**


	6. Rumours and Invitations

I heard from Melody and Astoria later on that Snape had come to give an announcement right before I went and locked myself away from the world. Hogwarts was now a dangerous place, with attacks happening to whoever rounded a corner alone. My sister had been petrified in the library, a place she considered her haven.

Right after her attack, students weren't allow to move around the school without teacher supervision, so leisure time was always spent inside the common rooms under the strict eye watch of whoever your head of house was. In my case, it was none other than Severus Snape. He literally wouldn't allow anyone to leave without supervision; it was more like a prison of some sort. Not to mention that having to be locked up in the common room with the rest of my fellow Slytherins, regardless of age and year group, forced me to have to breath in the same air that Malfoy breathed out; and it disgusted me. Besides, he had been acting very weird since my little anger incident. I didn't know what had happened that caused him to react the way he did, but Matthew had. After I decided to not be angry with him anymore, he said I had turned my entire hair (not just as lock) pitch black. I guess I'm thankful that the common room was rather empty, with only Malfoy and his two thick dog guards watching. There were a few other people around, who unfortunately witnessed part of it, but they didn't bother me as much as Malfoy did. It wasn't that he had said something, other than freak during our unfortunate encounter; it was more about the way he now acted around me. He didn't call me names or sneered at me anymore. Not once had the word mudblood left his mouth to refer to me. On the contrary, he just stared.

"This is getting ridiculous." I told Matthew, after catching Malfoy for what seemed like the zillionth time. I was getting seriously tired. Was he expecting me to change any part of my body for his entertainment? The nerve of that idiot.

"I told you this was bad." He answered, not very interested but instead seriously annoyed. He constantly sounded annoyed when he talked to me. Figured it had something to do with whatever he was not telling me.

"If you don't tell me whatever it is you're not telling me, I will go over there and ask Malfoy myself." I saw how that picked his interest, since he suddenly stopped reading and focused his entire attention on me.

"I can't give you an answer."

"Merlin, stop acting like you're clueless. You know something."

"Good use of the word Merlin, I'm quite please you're starting to make yourself familiar with wizarding expressions."

I smiled, happy that he was at least proud of something that, in his eyes, I had done right. Lately, I had just managed to get him angry with me for not particular reason. I was starting to suspect that it had nothing to do with me; it was irritating how on edge he was as of late.

"Out with it, then," I forced the smile off my face, and crossed my arms. I wanted answers now.

"I don't know anything, Corinne. Not really. I just… I know it's bad."

His stare was dead serious, with only a hint of concern written on his eyes. Whatever he was trying to tell me, I wasn't getting it.

"Stop it with the mystery, already. Whatever is that supposed to mean?"

"Just some stupid rumours. Nothing you need to worry about."

"But those rumours are about me, right? Don't you think I have a right to know about them?" I was suddenly becoming desperate. It wasn't fair that people knew something about me that I didn't. I couldn't even tell people if these rumours that Matthew was talking about were true or false.

"I think you should go and visit your sister. It's almost time, Professor Snape should be here to escort you any time now." And with those last words, his attention returned to the book he had been reading; just as if the conversation had never happened.

Surprisingly enough, I didn't get angry about his lack of cooperation. Quite the contrary, he had let something on. Something about a rumour, a rumour Malfoy possibly knew about, too. Surely Malfoy wouldn't keep information from me because of my own good, they way Matthew did. I would ask him when I came back from visiting my sister.

Before following Professor Snape out of the common room, I purposely slammed Matthew's book shut. He seemed surprised about it, but I didn't wait around much to hear him complain about it. He needed to know that I was not ok with his ways of "telling" me things, if you could even call that telling.

I followed Professor Snape in silence, like I usually did. I had found that he wasn't a man of many words. Besides, he seemed to despise having to take me to see my sister. Honestly, I could go alone, but it was his duty as part of the Hogwarts staff to protect students; he might as well deal with it nicely. I know that if I had to follow students around I would at least try to make it enjoyable. I would do it my way, turn it into something I didn't hate too much. But Professor Snape was as grumpy as ever. If all Slytherins were as grumpy as Snape, Malfoy and Matthew, I wasn't so sure I wanted to be part of this house. I saw how Gryffindors were less reserved, quite loud actually. Then Hufflepuffs seemed really nice, and Ravenclaws were always up for exchange of ideas. They were _friendly_, openly so. I knew I was generalising, and possibly my vision of the other three houses could be wrong. I only knew a selected number of Slytherins, Melody being the only one who wasn't quiet and reserved.

"Ah, Severus." A voice said from afar, making Professor Snape turn in alarm. I would say he wasn't expecting anyone merely for the way he now had his wand out.

"Did I frighten you? My sincerest apologies, Severus." I sneaked a peek from behind Professor Snape; curious as to whom the voice belonged to. It was a woman, or so I could tell for the tone of voice. Indeed, it was a woman, and for some reason I felt like I had seen her before.

"Narcissa." Professor Snape acknowledged with a bored voice and a single nod.

"Would you be the one escorting my son? Dumbledore granted me a few minutes with him alone, seeing as my husband's taking care of some business." The woman said, an air of superiority surrounding her like a shield. She was poised, and polite. Yet her features were filled with pride, and arrogance. Something I had ever only seen on Malfoy's face.

"I'm afraid I was not informed of this, but I shall bring you your son right after I get this young lady to the Hospital Wing."

"Oh, by all means, Severus. I wouldn't like to intervene with your every day duties. You can surely understand, though, given the current situation of the school, how concerned a mother can get for her only son." The woman-Narcissa, apparently- sounded sincere. But it was hard to tell, that annoying habit of enclosed emotions was something that apparently she could do pretty well. Still, she was too composed to whole-heartedly believe she was dying to see her son, whoever he was.

Professor Snape didn't move. I was expecting him to deliver me to the Hospital Wing the moment she stopped talking, so he could go and bring this woman's son. But he didn't. He stared at her, as if trying to decipher her thoughts. Harry had mentioned it before, that he thought Snape could read minds. If anything, it was as if he was trying to do just that.

Suddenly, he turned his back on the platinum blond, towards the Dungeons and back to the Slytherin common room.

"Would it be any trouble for you, Miss Granger, if I went back for Mr. Malfoy?"

And then it all fell right into place. Of course this woman was Malfoy's mother. That was the sole reason why I had the feeling of having seen her before; what with her long, platinum blond hair, the air of superiority, her arrogance that in some wicked way looked almost elegant, Malfoy was written all over her and I hadn't even thought about it before Snape mentioned who her son was.

"No, Professor." I answered, except I was lying. Of course it was trouble. It was big trouble, undoubtedly so. We were going back to Slytherins common room, and I would have to walk with none other than Draco flipping Malfoy until he was delivered to his mother. The universe hated me, for sure.

"I will meet you with your son at the Hospital Wing, so I can escort both students back when they're done." It sounded too much of a command to give to Malfoy's mother, after all I did know that Malfoy's parents were both very powerful within the wizarding world. Snape wasn't particularly someone I liked, but I wouldn't like him getting sacked because he crossed the wrong person.

To my surprise, Malfoy's mother agreed to Snape's terms rather happily. I would have expected her not to, like Malfoy would have done. Then again, if she wanted to see her son as much as she said she wanted to, maybe she would have said yes to anything.

-L-

Walking with Malfoy and Professor Snape wasn't as bad as I would have thought. Malfoy didn't say a word to me; he didn't even look at me. I wasn't necessarily expecting him to say nasty words to me, mainly because Snape was there, but I was expecting him to look at me in a pretty mean way. The way he always does, as if I was lower than dirt. But he didn't. The moment Professor Snape called him, he stood up and followed him, no questions asked and no hateful glances at me. It bothered me more that he ignored me, and I didn't know why.

In no time we made it to the Hospital Wing. Just as she had arranged with Professor Snape, Malfoy's mother was there, talking with Madame Pomfrey. I spotted Harry and Ron by my sister's bed, and without a single glance at either Malfoy or his mother, I made my way towards my sister's best friends.

"Hey guys." I said, dragging a third chair to sit around the petrified body of my sister.

Neither replied with too much enthusiasm. More than anything they seemed extremely tired. Harry changed the flowers that I had brought her last week. I had forgotten to bring Hermione new ones, but was eternally thankful that Harry brought her new ones.

"So, I'm guessing you still don't know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?" I asked silently, making sure no one heard me, but Harry and Ron.

"It's nearly impossible without Hermione's help, honestly." Ron said, defeated.

I didn't know what to say to encourage them. It didn't occurred to me what I could do to help them. While I was smart, I wasn't nearly as bright as my sister was. She was extremely logical and analytical, but my mind just didn't work the way hers did. Besides, she knew a lot more about Hogwarts than I did. There really was no way I could help them without bringing someone like Matthew into it. Which, really, wouldn't help either. Matthew didn't know who opened the Chamber or where it was.

"What's that?" I heard Ron asked, making me focus on Harry and the wrinkled parchment on his hand.

"The reason why she was in the library the night she was attacked." Harry said, after he was done reading a few lines of the paper he was holding.

"What do you mean?" I asked, curiosity building up inside of me.

"She figured what's in the Chamber of Secrets." Harry said, his tone only a level above a whisper. A slight smile was printed on his face, clearly proud of my sister. It filled me with pride, too.

"She's bloody, brilliant, she is!" Ron exclaimed, excited. "Don't tell her I said that, though."

I couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped me. Ron was quite the character. I could see why Harry had chosen Ron instead of Draco. For starters, Malfoy's introduction was completely rude. He started being mean without a proper reason. Secondly, Malfoy was a horrible human being, while Ron was very pleasant to be around. I would have chosen Ron too, had I been Harry.

"That is all for tonight, Mr Potter." Madame Pomfrey said, crashing our little party. "You too Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger."

Harry and Ron bid their goodbyes to Hermione, promising to be back the next day. After so, they said goodnight to me, a glint of mischief imprinted on their eyes. I found myself wanting to join them really badly. Their lives were filled with adventures, while mine wasn't. I knew they were going to work on the Chamber and its mysteries, maybe even try to locate where it was. Of course, I also knew they wouldn't necessarily let me join them. Hermione would kill them. Besides, Snape was there. He wasn't going to just let me go with them.

As they walked out of the Hospital Wing, I was forced to remain there, standing awkwardly close to Professor Snape, while Malfoy and his mother said their goodbyes. It made me miss my mother a little, and to suddenly become very annoyed. It was Malfoy and his mother's fault that I got so little time to be with my sister.

"Thank you, Severus." Malfoy's mother said, a genuine smile adorning her face. She was quite a strikingly beautiful woman. "I really do hope they find the culprit of all these terrible attacks."

"As do I, Narcissa." Replied Snape coldly.

Malfoy's mother gave his son one last goodbye hug, before her blue eyes landed on me.

"Oh, and who might this be, Draco?" she asked, curiosity etched on her voice. Malfoy seemed uncomfortable.

"Granger, Mother." Malfoy answered, gritting his teeth. Oh, I hated the git too. He didn't need to fake it so much. It was mutual.

"Miss Granger…" her eyes ran through my features, now making _me _uncomfortable, "how very rude of me, Miss Granger. Narcissa Malfoy, a pleasure." She finally said, smiling, causing me to forget how to speak momentarily. She was being awfully nice. Surely Malfoys weren't as nice to muggle-borns, were they? Were her son and husband the only pricks?

"Pleasure's all mine, Mrs. Malfoy." I said, bowing my head slightly. I was suddenly horrified that I didn't know proper wizard etiquette. I knew muggle etiquette, but I didn't know if that applied here as well. Was I supposed to do something else other than bowing my head in respect? It stroked me as the proper thing to do, but I wouldn't really know. Did I have to smile back, or would that be considered disrespectful?

"I would like to extend an invitation to you, Miss Granger," Narcissa began, tearing me away from my moment of panic. Malfoy seemed to have gone into panic mode too, as he turned to look at his mother as though she had gone mental, "I would very much like you to consider spending the summer at Malfoy Manor."

"Mother…" Malfoy said almost too quickly. It would be hard to believe, but I definitely felt the same way Malfoy was feeling right now. Panicked. In disbelief. Slightly horrified again for my lack of wizarding etiquette. I definitely felt as though the Malfoy lady had gone mental, for sure. I would agree with Malfoy there.

"Now, don't be rude, Draco." Narcissa said, shooting her son a deadly look. Malfoy composed himself almost immediately, but he still looked very displeased. Not that I was too pleased, either. "Well, then?" this time her tone wasn't as sweet as before, and it scared me slightly. I had no respect for her son, but I definitely had some for her.

"P-pardon me?" I managed to choke out.

"You heard her, Granger. If you'd like to spend the summer with the Malfoys." Malfoy spat, slightly pissed off but still fairly composed for his mother's sake. The tone of his voice gained him another warning look from Narcissa, which made me feel victorious in some way.

"Oh, I- I wouldn't like to intrude, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Nonsense, Miss Granger, It'll be our pleasure," her eyes wander back to Malfoy, "Will it not, Draco?"

"Yes." He stated simply, but his eyes said a completely different story. It was obvious it wouldn't be _his _pleasure.

Narcissa smiled sweetly at me, waiting for my answer. Malfoy's cold, grey orbs were on me too, expecting me to recline the offer. Seeing Malfoy's annoyed expression, and warning eyes, I suddenly _wanted _to go. Not because I was fond of the Malfoys or anything (I so wasn't), but because I wanted to annoy him. I wanted to have to force him to be nice with me, because if he wasn't he would get in trouble.

"That'll be lovely, Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you very much." I answered, directing a smug smile in Malfoy's direction.

"No trouble at all, dear. I shall see you soon, then." With that said, Malfoy's mother nodded courteously towards Professor Snape and left the Hospital Wing with the same air of arrogance and superiority that Malfoy walked around with.

-L-

Professor Snape was asked, rather urgently, to follow Professor McGonagall immediately right in the middle of our return to the common room. He didn't have time to get Malfoy or me back to the Slytherin common room, so we were forced to accompany him. Professor McGonagall was not happy about it, but she agreed that whatever Professor Snape was needed for was very important. And it was important, and it scared me, and I didn't even realised that I started to cry.


	7. First Year Goodbyes

I guess we were lucky to have Harry Potter at school with us. I often think that if it hadn't been for him, Ginny would be dead today. Also, Voldermort would have returned. It was rather hard for most Slytherin students to come to terms with Harry being the savour, again, and the professors being useless. Most blamed Dumbledore and his incompetence, saying he should get a proper, and prepared groups of teachers. It was rather hard not to agree with them. I don't want to discredit Harry, and I don't want to go against Dumbledore either. I'm sure he's a great headmaster. I don't know him personally, but Hermione always talks wonders about him. I don't question my sister's judgement. However, Slytherins' arguments weren't that crazy. I guess we should have teachers that guard our safety. It seems pointless, and rather ridiculous, that a 12 year old saves and entire school but teachers that have experience beyond his years and are supposed to be the best, fail to do so.

I didn't want to believe anything Slytherin students said, because it felt like I was betraying my sister and all she stood for if I so much as agreed with them. Some part of me, wanted to. It made me feel like I belonged. Like if I thought in the same way that they did, that it made more Slytherin. Some part of me, a very well hidden one, wanted to be more Slytherin.

Another part, however, fought against it and I guess it was the part that was winning. I didn't know if it would make my life harder. I would have, after all, to spend 7 years of my life in this very same house. With the same people. I would practically grow up with them. The people that I now knew would determine my entire existence. We would share memories; laughs, tears, screams, and fights. We would graduate together. We would try to win the House Cup together, even when we didn't really like each other. We would take the same classes; do the same homework, and present the same exams. We would all cheer for the same Quidditch team. Maybe we would even throw our own private parties, if that was even allowed or if that even happened. We would share the same dormitories, and walk the same halls. Some us would even date in the future, maybe even walk down the aisle and have kids.

Would I ever really allow myself to do all that? I didn't want to.

"You've barely touched your food, Cor. You know, when you get back home nothing will ever taste as good as this. I say, you need to enjoy it while it's still in front of you." Melody said, waving an eager hand in front of my face. "Here, have some pie. It's _so _good!"

"It's fine. I'm not really hungry." I answered, moving my away from Melody's view before the attacking pie had any chance of collapsing with my face.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and ate the pie herself.

I watched as she enjoyed her last Hogwarts meal. It made me feel rather nostalgic, and nauseous. Butterflies were flying all over my stomach, eating away at it. I could feel the gastric juices mixing with the fluttering of their wings, burning. It was revolting; I didn't comprehend why Melody was eating as if the entire food in the universe was going to be gone forever after today.

I turned my head away from her, because if I didn't I was sure I was going to vomit. The last thing I needed was vomiting in front of the entire Slytherin table. I was enough of a target; I didn't need any more reasons for them to bother me. Instead, I focused on every one around me. The energy filling the room was high, electric. No one seemed as sad as I felt. Probably because they hadn't signed their death sentence by agreeing to spend the summer with none other than Draco Malfoy himself, still… something felt off. I couldn't really explain it; it just didn't feel right to leave Hogwarts. Or maybe I just didn't want to.

"You don't look very happy" I heard Matthew as he took a sit next to me. "Actually you look less than happy. Something bothering you?" Something was bothering me, but telling him about it was not going to help.

"She isn't eating." Melody answered for me, which got me an immediate disapproving stare from Matthew.

"Not like _that_," I said hurriedly, knowing full well what he was going to say. These constant worries over my health were something I could take from my sister, but from Matthew they were just straight annoying and infuriating, "I'm just anxious to see my sister. I can't eat right now." I wasn't entirely lying.

Matthew notably relaxed, a soft expression taking over his face now. "It'll be alright. Madame Pomfrey is the best at what she does. I'm sure your sister will show up any minute now."

He patted my back, and smiled a smile full with encouragement. I do have to admit it felt nice, and it calmed me quite a bit. It was reassuring, time and time again, to have Matthew's support. I smiled back, merely to let him know I appreciated his words, then turned my attention to nothing in particular as Matthew joined Melody and started eating too.

Lisa and John joined us a few minutes later, and naturally joined the conversation as if they had been there the whole time. It seemed rather amazing how quickly this little, strange group had come to be. How at ease I felt with them, and how easily it seemed now to actually trust them. It felt as though I'd known them forever, like they were my family. It made me a little sad to have to leave them behind for an entire summer. What if being apart for so long made them forget about me? What if when I returned they decided that maybe associating with me wasn't a very good idea, after all?

My head began spinning way too fast, and suddenly I was nauseous again. So I did the only logical thing I could think of without alarming my new Slytherin friends; I ran to the Gryffindor table. But of course everyone noticed my panic.

I was looking for my sister, of course. But since she was not yet there, my second best choice would have been Ginny. Except, she had just gone through quite a lot the night before, and I didn't want to bother her with my problems. But then, to whom was I actually running to? _Where_ was I going? What the hell was I _doing_?

My paced slowed down once my sight fell on the closed doors of the Great Hall. I needed an escape route. I needed to get some air. Pure, fresh _air_.

By the time I had arrived to the girls' bathroom, my hair had completely lost its colour. It resembled Malfoy's hair, long and silky and very much white. The nausea had returned yet again, and this time it was because looking in the mirror reminded me that I had doomed myself to an entire summer with the Malfoys. Was it an entire summer? I didn't recall. I didn't remember which had been the exact words that Mrs. Malfoy had used; the only thing swimming through my mind at that moment was Malfoy's utterly annoyed and disgusting face.

I was so done for.

Breath in.

Breath out.

It was fine. I could handle it. Besides, I could totally back down on the deal, right? It wasn't as though I was forced to actually go and spend the summer with them. My parents wouldn't let me go. What kind of parents would they even be if they blindly allowed me to spend the summer with a group of complete strangers? Hermione would obviously object too! She would call on their bad parenting. Yeah, I could trust Hermione.

Breath in.

Breath out.

No need to worry.

-L-

It was the last minute before the Hogwarts express left for London. Everyone was saying their goodbyes, more directed towards the professors and, of course, to Hagrid; especially since he had just come back from Azkaban. I still didn't know what Azkaban was, though. However my interest in finding out what this Azkaban place was, wasn't a priority. What I wanted to do now was to find my sister. I had sadly missed her entrance during breakfast time, and also Hagrid's, for that matter. I knew about it because Matthew told me about it when I bumped into him on my way to an empty compartment. I wanted to run and find my sister's compartment before I even settled in the compartment my friends were now occupying, but it wouldn't be of any use. I tried squishing past a group of girls that had, quite annoyingly, positioned themselves at the very entrance of my compartment. I couldn't leave to find my sister, and it was useless. I'd have to wait until everyone settled down. So, quite begrudgingly, I sat next to Matthew and simply stared at the stupid girls blocking my way. One of them noticed, but she simply laughed and pointed at me. I decided she was now at the top of my hate list. Right above Malfoy. Who the hell did she think she was? I stared harder, anger boiling inside of me. I was not going to be the object of any sort of joke.

The girl's smile dropped, and she went notoriously whiter. She said something to her friends, and after that, they all left rather hurriedly. I didn't know why they left, but it pleased me. In some wicked sense, I was proud of the fear I was able to inflict on her. It made me feel strong, powerful. I liked the feeling.

The train stared moving just as the aisled cleared. My mind was less fussy, and I wasn't nauseous anymore. The atmosphere inside my compartment was nice, soothing. The conversation that sparked between John, Alice, Matthew, Melody and me worked to calm my nerves down or whatever it was that I was feeling. They all promised to write to me, and they seemed sincere. I just hoped they kept their promise. I supposed I'd have to trust them.

"How'd you like your first year, girls?" John asked, directing the question to the obvious first years in the compartment; that meaning Melody and me.

"It was alright." Melody answered, picking at her nails. "I was expecting more fun, though."

"You're calling us boring. I feel hurt!" Matthew exclaimed, a faked hurt expression on his face and a hand resting on his heart.

"I only speak the truth."

John laughed at Melody's answer, and Matthew simply dropped the subject. Everyone knew by now that arguing with Melody was no use; you could never prove her wrong even if she was indeed wrong.

"Give it a chance. You still have 6 years to go. Corinne?" John tossed an apple to Matthew, who tried to catch it with only his mouth. Of course, it didn't work. It hit him straight in the eye. The sight was a funny one, and it caused an eruption of laughter from every single one sitting there.

"Ow! You bloody idiot, you were supposed to aim lower!" I know Matthew was trying really hard not to laugh, but the laughter of floating in the air got the best of him and he eventually joined, too. His eye was quite red, though. "This is gonna leave a mark, isn't it?"

Alice tended to his "wound" while John kept on teasing him. How I'd found myself surrounded by these idiots was beyond me, but I was glad I was in their company. These were the people I would be glad to graduate with. The people I would gladly work with to win the House Cup. The people I'd cheer for whenever there was a Quidditch game, because I knew of John's interest in playing and Matthew's too (even if he played it cool). I wouldn't mind being part of Slytherin if it meant being part of them. I was really happy these were the people I got to grow up with. I was dying for Hermione to meet them. She'd like them.

I don't how much time it had passed since the train started moving, but Matthew said we were halfway there. I didn't know if he was right, but I'd take his word for now. After all, he was in his second year, and knew far more than I did.

We all went to change back into our normal clothes, no more Hogwarts ropes, and I took the opportunity to see if I could find my sister. I didn't, but I wasn't too worried. Of course I wanted to see if she was ok, but I also lived with her. It's not like I wasn't to ever see her again, while I would actually not see my friends for quite a long time. Maybe I just didn't want to deal with going back home, back to the ordinary when I had just discovered the extraordinary. I wonder if this is how my sister felt on her first year. Was this normal? How could it feel wrong to go home? I felt as though I was leaving home, not coming back to it.

-L-

Crowded was an understatement to even being to describe King's Cross. I didn't realise just how many people actually attended Hogwarts until I found all their parents gathered in one place.

As I got out of train, my first impulse was to look for my parents. Except, there were apparently a lot of tall people at Hogwarts and they weren't precisely helping. I sighed, deciding it was best if I just found a way to move away from the really crowded places. Not that there weren't any empty spaces, but I was sure I could find something to climb on to spot my parents.

As I spotted a bench, that looked more or less stable and was actually empty, I bumped into an unfortunate platinum blonde. I was betting everything I had that my luck just couldn't get better. Of all the people I could have bumped into, it had to be Draco bleeping Malfoy. This was _just_ what I needed.

"What where you're go-" he stopped midsentence once his eyes landed on mine. It made uneasy. He had never looked me directly in the eye, and neither had I. "Oh. It's you." His eyes left mine, and instead searched the crowd. He was ignoring. He was _actually_ pretending like I was plain air. Dear heavens! I couldn't believe it! He was looking straight through me!

"Excuse me, I'm still standing here, you know?"

But he didn't seem to even hear me. All he did was walk away. He freaking walked away. I had my answer now; I would have Malfoy throw a million insults my way than having him not even bothering to even acknowledge my existence. I didn't even know why it mattered so bloody much, but it did! I didn't want to be ignored; I'd be damned if I allowed for something like that to happen, especially coming from him!

"Cor!" I heard a voice calling from a distance. I turned, still not over what Malfoy had done to my ego, but composed enough to not have any part of me altered to another colour.

Hermione squished through the crowd with confidence and excitement. Relief washed over me and an extreme sense of joy overtook my anger towards Malfoy and his stupid blond head. Said joy, I couldn't contain. The moment Hermione got to where I was, I immediately threw my arms around her and caught her in a big, bear hug. It felt like ages since the last time I hugged her.

She returned the hug eagerly, and all my worries disappear as if they had never even existed.

"There they are! My two gorgeous girls!" a voice said, but I didn't have to turn around to know to whom it belonged. The sister hugged ended as our father approached us, his smile the biggest I had ever seen on him. Our mother joined soon after, her eyes watery. I had never seen her so emotional, to be honest. But then again, last year she wasn't entirely alone; she had me. This year, both her girls had gone away. I supposed it must be hard on any parent, but I wouldn't know. I was not a parent.

"My gosh, I missed you!" said our mother, hugging us both almost to the point where we couldn't breath.

"Mom!" I tried to push her away, just a little. It was embarrassing the way she acting. I was only gone for a few months, it's not like I had just returned form war or something.

"Come hug your father, young lady." My father said, noticing how embarrassed mom's clinginess was making me feel. I appreciated those moments when my father came to my rescue. Hermione didn't seem to mind too much, or maybe she just didn't care and understood mom's need to have her girls near. Mom was way too needy sometimes.

I hugged mom before I pulled away to hug dad. He received me with his ever-present smile, comforting as ever. It took me back to when we were kids and he would prepare hot chocolate every movie night. Dad had come with the movie night tradition. He said it gave him to spend with his girls. Basically, it happened every Wednesday right after Dad got home from work. He got home early on Wednesdays. Each Wednesday, a different person picked a movie to watch; sometimes it was Hermione's turn, sometimes it was mom's and so on. The tradition started to die slowly, mainly because Hermione left for Hogwarts so it didn't feel like movie night if we weren't all together.

Dad helped with our luggage, while mom told us about the trip they had planned for us as a family. We were going to Italy; a place mom had wanted to go for quite a while now, and before I knew it, I was back to reality.


End file.
